BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 15. Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has expressed its need for a huge investment of 1 quadrillion rials (about $23.8 billion) to upgrade the country’s ports and related technical-infrastructure works, Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and Head of the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), Ali Akbar Safaei said, Trend reports.
Safaei said that the PMO aims to secure 80 percent of the needed funds from foreign investors and 20 percent from local ones.
He added that of the total investment, 530 trillion rials (about $12.7 billion) would be dedicated to technical engineering and infrastructure improvements, and 470 trillion rials (about $11.2 billion) would be used for port development.
The deputy minister highlighted the importance of the private sector in facilitating investment and said that the PMO would eliminate any obstacles, such as bureaucracy, that impede the inflow of investment. He also pointed out that this would guarantee the steady development of Iran’s ports.
In total, approximately 112 million tons of oil and non-oil products were loaded and unloaded at Iranian ports in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21 through September 22, 2023), which is an increase of 3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Currently, the annual capacity of Iranian ports is around 240 million tons. Iran is taking steps to increase this capacity to 300 million tons.
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